Metal joining through soldering and brazing is well known in the art. Generally, soldering and brazing include flowing of a liquid filler metal into a joint between base metal components via capillary action; soldering using filler metals with melting points below about 450° C. and brazing employing filler metals with melting points above about 450° C. Various methods and materials are employed for such operations. One common example of which includes melting and flowing a lead-based solder wire into a joint between copper pipes in a household plumbing system.
It is also known to employ a fluxing product to aid in preparation of the base metals during soldering and brazing. Fluxing products aid in breaking down oxide layers on surfaces of the base metals and may protect the base metals during soldering/brazing among other benefits. The fluxing products can be applied prior to heating of the materials or might be melted and applied by the heating. The fluxing products are often incorporated with the filler material, such as interior to the filler material, e.g. flux-cored wire, or as a coating on the filler material. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0101238, to Jossick et al. describes coating wires comprised of filler materials with a fluxing product. Similarly, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0014093, to Campbell et al. describes disposing fluxing material in a channel in a filler material wire. And U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0219231 to Means et al. describes filler materials formed into ring-shaped components that have channels or grooves extending laterally along the circumference of the component and that are filled with fluxing products.
Problems exist with these examples that hinder manufacturing and use of the components. Production of wire-based components requires subsequent forming steps either during manufacture or during use to cut and form the wire into a desired form, e.g. a ring. And production of ring components requires subsequent machining steps to form the channel about the circumference of the ring followed by packing or disposal of the fluxing product in the machined channel.
In use, these products fail to sufficiently wet the soldering/brazing material with flux. The soldering/brazing material thus fails to flow into the joint to be soldered/brazed because, for example, the surface tension of the melted soldering/brazing material is too high. Both wire-based and ring forms often fail to provide a sufficient snug or friction fit with a pipe or fitting on which they are installed. As such, the wire or ring components may fall off or move out of position before completion of the soldering or brazing operation. Further, due to the subsequent forming steps required and/or the restriction on the channel profiles available through machining, retention of the fluxing product in the channels can be an issue.
There remains a need for a soldering and brazing ring that is easily manufactured with an integrated fluxing product; that enables wetting of the ring by the fluxing product; and that is configured to positively retain the fluxing product to avoid dislodging of the fluxing product during handling. A soldering or brazing ring that is adaptable to variation in pipe and fitting diameter and that provides a friction fit with a pipe or fitting to aid in maintaining an installed position of the ring would also be beneficial.